Thursday, December 26, 2013

Frankly when my friends said they're joining this Reading Challenges, I've checked Indah's master post for this RC and I was like "so complicated, eh?", but then someone on the group [we have a BBI Jabo group for chatting over WhatsApp] said that if you want to visit Tunisia or French, you can read Fatima's Good Fortune as one of the categories on The Lucky No.14 Reading Challenge… and here again I was intrigued by this RC and decided that I want to join too… :D

Let's get starting… by the way, I need to warn you that many of my books are from my 2014 TBRR RC list, because my only reason for joining the RC is to read all of my books especially my old ones...

Here are the 14 categories:

1. Visit The Country: Read a book that has setting in a country that you really want to visit in real life. Make sure the setting has a big role in the book and it can make you know a little bit more about your dream destination. ==> I choose Fatima's Good Fortune by Joanne Dryansky as suggested, I was buying the book based on Indah's suggestion… and I need more reasons to read it :D
Not that I want to go to Tunisia... but I'm dying to go to France... ^^

2. Cover Lust:Pick a book from your shelf that you bought because you fell in love with the cover. Is the content as good as the cover? ==> Actually I have and ARC that I choose because of the cover, but I'm currently reading it…

so I better choose something else, so I choose The Dark Heroine: Dinner With a Vampire (The Dark Heroine #1) by Abigail Gibbs, when I first saw it at a bookstore, I read the excerpt on the back cover and said… "aahh… another vampire books, i don't want to read… " then my friend listed as one of a giveaway books… and posted them on twitter, I saw the cover of the book and I asked her, what's the tittle… after I looked for it on GR, I really wanted to read it… and I have red it, the first 20 chapters on Wattpad, then the author, without warning, said it was just a sample… damned sample! Now I want to know the rest of the story...

The translated book's cover is more tempting than the original one, right? ;-)

Or can be this one too...

I guess we can consider me as the one who's most get hook up by the cover... :d

3. Blame it on Bloggers: Read a book because you’ve read the sparkling reviews from other bloggers. Don’t forget to mention the blogger’s names too! ==> I haven't had the priviledge… :D I want to say that they're The Hobbit & The Lord of The Rings… but I want to read them as The Movies vs Books category, that I don't even have them yet and I was planning on just borrowing them… can we read on borrowing books? do we have to own the books?
But, wait... can I just read These Broken Stars (Starbound #1) by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner?The review by Tirta Pangestu is very good! :D I don't have it either, but I can always buy the ebook, right?

4. Bargain All The Way: Ever buying a book because it’s so cheap you don’t really care about the content? Now it’s time to open the book and find out whether it’s really worth your cents. ==> We'll have a lot of books on this category… but I have chosen one, I just bought it last night, so cheap for an English book, though the condition is not fit anymore, and why I choose the book? Because sometimes ago a friend [my following friends on twitter actually] said the series are good, I have looked for them but I couldn't find one… so when I saw it last night, I just had to buy it… and read it of course :D
It's Blue Blood (Blue Blood #1) by Melissa de la Cruz and it's vampires again [forget what I said earlier about vampire's book :d ]

5. (Not So) Fresh From the Oven:Do you remember you bought/got a new released book last year but never had a chance to read it? Dig it from your pile and bring back the 2013. ==> Definitely 1Q84 Book 1 & Book 2 by Haruki Murakami, when they got translated to Indonesian, I bought them right away… but after months, I haven't read any of them yet...

6. First Letter’s Rule: Read a book which title begins with the same letter as your name (for me, Astrid means A, and I can read anything that started with the letter A). Remember: Articles like “a”, “an” or “the” doesn’t count. ==> Quite rare to find a book which title begins with an "R" but there's Raging Star (Dust Lands Trilogy #3) by Moira Young. It's going to be published on May 13th, 2014 and I will definitely read it... ;-)

7. Once Upon a Time: Choose a book that’s been published for the first time before you were born (not necessarily has to be a classic book, just something a little bit older than you is okay. You can read the most recent edition if you want to). ==> I want to read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov for this category...

8. Chunky Brick: Take a deep breath, and read a book that has more than 500 pages. Yep, the one that you’ve always been afraid of! ==> You must to be kidding me… I have lots of them… maybe after I finish any, I just pick any…

9. Favorite Author: You like their books, but there are too many titles. This is your chance, choose a book that’s been written by your fave author but you haven’t got time to read it before. ==> I want to choose Gabriel's Redemption by Sylvain Reynard for this… but I already read the ARC, and it's not that there are too many of them or something… I guess I want to read One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern instead...

10. It’s Been There Forever: Pick up a book that has been there on your shelf for more than a year, clean up the dust and start to read it now. ==> Wow! I have a lot too for this category… Let's just pick one later… :D

11. Movies vs Books: You’ve seen the movie adaptation (or planned to see it soon) but never had time to read the book. It’s time to read it now, so you can compare the book vs the movie. ==> Just like I said previously, I want to choose The Hobbit & The Lord of The Rings (Middle-Earth Universe) by J.R.R. Tolkien… but there are many books into movies nowadays, maybe I find something later...

12. Freebies Time: What’s the LAST free book you’ve got? Whether it’s from giveaway, a birthday gift or a surprise from someone special, don’t hold back any longer. Open the book and start reading it now. ==> This must be The Cuckoo's Calling - Dekut Burung Kukuk (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith, I got it from my gracious Santa…

13. Not My Cup of Tea: Reach out to a genre that you’ve never tried (or probably just disliked) before. Whether it’s a romance, horror or non fiction, maybe you will find a hidden gem! ==> I can't pick this one yet… I've always considered my self with a broad book genres reader… but still I cannot picture my self to read a religious background novel such as Ayat-ayat Cinta by Habiburrahman El Shirazy… but again, can we just borrow one? XD [kesannya gak rela banget yak? :d ]

14. Walking Down The Memory Lane: Ever had a book that you loved so much as a kid? Or a book that you wish you could read when you were just a child? Grab it now and prepare for a wonderful journey to the past Comic books or graphic novels are allowed! ==> I guess I'll just read one of my Roald Dahl's book since I just bough a box set of his… actually I want to read Cewek Paling Badung di Sekolah (The Naughtiest Girl #1) by Enid Blyton, since I love her so much… but I can't remember if I still have the book at my mom's house or not… maybe if I have the chance to visit Malang, I'll look for it… :D or maybe let's read Candy Candy by Yumiko Igarashi & Kyoko Mizuki :D

so that's it… we'll see again during the 2014… I really look forward to have an exciting year of reading… since I've already got so many to read, yet so many other planning, yet so little time as always… yay!

my mom's love orchids very much and your name is mom's favorite orchid… [I feel we're so destined together… ;-) #lebay], so I guess I could say that I know my Santa already… and I will always remember that I thank her for this gift… the nicest gift for me this year…

i guess, i just have to live with all of my books and try to get them away just after i have read them…

aanndd… i want to do my personal readathon on these Christmas & New Years holidays, we'll have 2 days vacation for each… my targets are my borrowed books… I have 5 books…

i hope i can finished them before the new years… :D

and maybe… if my husband don't mind, i can have more readathons on next years, since we have several long weekends… if we are not going anywhere, why don't i just read and read and read… or maybe it doesn't have to be a readathon… but i just have to make more time to read and read faster… >.<

and i didn't even mention my ebooks, my ilegal ebooks… or the legal ones… :D

btw, do you notice that my old books more colorful in the genres... and several of them are really good... i mean... at least they are famous! so i guess i just have to read them all, right? ;-)

I will update the list with numbers after I read the book… and the list also will be updated after I open and short listed my books in the containers :D

I don't really have books for Historical Fiction, but I don't know if I can find something in my containers… looks like Barbara Cartland is eligible for romance, the tricky part is I guess I have read all books (which are all my sister's) I have with me... I guess I will pass this category... but they don't have to be romance right? right? hhhhmmmm...

Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is my personal challenge to read the book in the original language which is French ;-)

I have 30+ books on my pile, so I really determined my self to read all the books before really buy something new… or instead I just have to find the ebook… :D

Still, I have books I want to read which already there in the book store...

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Summary:From the author of the New York Times bestsellers Gabriel’s Rapture and Gabriel’s Inferno comes the epic conclusion to the captivating romantic trilogy.Professor Gabriel Emerson has left his position at the University of Toronto to embark on a new life with his beloved Julianne. Together, he’s confident that they can face any challenge. And he’s eager to become a father.But Julianne’s graduate program threatens Gabriel’s plans, as the pressures of being a student become all consuming. When she is given the honor of presenting an academic lecture at Oxford, Gabriel is forced to confront Julianne about the subject of her presentation—research that conflicts with his own. And in Oxford, several individuals from their past appear, including an old nemesis intent on humiliating Julia and exposing one of Gabriel’s darkest secrets.In an effort to confront his remaining demons, Gabriel begins a quest to discover more about his biological parents, beginning a chain of events that has startling repercussions for himself, Julianne, and his hope of having a family.

my review

this is my first ever ARC and i'm joining my first ever blog tour of Gabriel's Redemption book… :D

after Gabriel's Inferno and Gabriel's Rapture, i'm surely fall in love with Mr. Sylvain Reynard, he really is a gifted writer, he writes beautifully and though English is not my first language (surely there are several words i don't know), but i just know how remarkable his works are, for me at least, and for every body else i hope…

before his books, i'm not into poetry, i don't understand them, after his books, i want to understand poetry and i wish i was studying literature… and understand Italian... :D

and i follow him on twitter too… sometimes, i read his twits about his philanthrophique activities, he even replied my twit… :D

after i got to know, that we get bookplate if we pre-order Gabriel's Redemption, i pre-ordered, and after i learned that his publisher's giving away ARC for his blog tour, i jumped on my desk and entered my email, even though, i'm not quite sure what on earth blog tour was about… the only thing, i didn't do was reading extras before i eventually read the book... [ and of course, now that i have read the ARC, i will look for all of the available extras and i will read the book again, once my paperback comes... ;-) ]

when the day finally arrived, Enn, his publisher gave link to the ARC, and i saw the number of pages, i became nervous if i could meet the date line on December 4th for my blog tour, to have finished my reading and write my review…

and here i am… a couple of days later, finished reading the ebook and ready to write my review…

hhhhhhmmmm…

what can i tell?

i love Mr. Reynard's piece of art as much as his previous books… in this last book of the series, we get to know everyone's happy ending or almost happy ending…

we surely know how the Emersons', i'm glad that i can be part of Gabriel & Julia's journey of finding one another, especially our beloved Professor Gabriel, whom finally have his peace… how their prayers got answered… in this book, i'd said that the professor became more intense… sometimes, he even get me pissed for being stubborn, but by that way, i can feel him and understand him more…

i'm glad that Julia can compromise eventually…

but i think Mr. Reynard has put too much worry to Gabriel in this last book… i got carried away and being worried with him in every words, until i read the word "fin"… haha…

though i didn't really catch the snarky narrator in the previous books, in this book, i found him really amusing with his various comments…

my personal comments about the book, i love how Mr. Reynard was building his opinion of the importance of the family… and he took us to witness Gabriel and Julia's transformation in their perspective of the family's meaning to their life…

about the feeling of wanting to have children, but couldn't, wanting to have children but later, have children but there's illness, died children, abandoned children, traumatized children, abused children… eventually, it's not the parent's decision when to have a child or how… but it's the responsibility of the parents to rise him/her with love…
to teach them the importances, to prepare them for having a good life on their own…

i just hope that God will answer our prayer to have a child in our family in his time… and we will be able to teach him/her about the charity, faith and hope as Gabriel and Julia will teach theirs…

i give this book a remarkable tantalizing four stars as my return thank you to Mr. Reynard to have written such a beautiful story for me… yes, i know it's for me… i love you Mr. Reynard… :3

btw, Superman & Lois Lane? Man of Steel's special seeds? nice way to talk about the alternative answer of the unusual, eh? i wish i have my superman... ;-)
and Mr. Reynard, why are you making Gabriel seems old? he's just 35 years old for God's sake...

*****

Sylvain Reynard Bio: I'm interested in the way literature can help us explore aspects of the human condition - particularly suffering, sex, love, faith, and redemption. My favourite stories are those in which a character takes a journey, either a physical journey to a new and exciting place, or a personal journey in which he or she learns something about himself/herself.

I'm also interested in how aesthetic elements such as art, architecture, and music can be used to tell a story or to illuminate the traits of a particular character. In my writing, I combine all of these elements with the themes of redemption, forgiveness, and the transformative power of goodness.

I try to use my platform as an author to raise awareness about the following charities: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation, WorldVision, Alex's Lemonade Stand, and Covenant House. For more information, see my Twitter account.